The Forest Hills Northern Model United Nations team got a thrill of a lifetime when they were invited to Beijing, China to participate in the world competition for the program in which students take on the role of delegates to solve world problems.

It was an unexpected thrill for coach and FHN teacher Kirk Vredevelt, as well as the team, since the number of members in the program had been dwindling and their first task for the year was to drum up interest and talk students into joining the team.

The Model UN team went from having only two returning team members and sending a small nine-member team the year before to more than 30 active students in time for the first conference of the 2011-2012 school year. Then after a season of competitions, they were named number-one in the state and invited to Beijing.

Fundraisers were set up as seven team members prepared for the trip. In the end only Vredevelt and three students were able to go, and on July 20, Collin Mathias, Nicholas McKay, and Daniel Lance left the United States with their coach and came back with conference awards.

"Due to the largest rainstorm in 61 years, our flight took 19 hours from Toronto via Dalian, China," said Vredevelt. The group toured Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall of China, and the National Museum of China.

"My students said being in Beijing today (20 million people) is like watching New York City being built," said Vredevelt, who brought back trinkets to share with his world history classes. "The Chinese are friendly and optimistic. The young people seem to be exploding with energy. Yes, there is poverty and they have a long way to go, but they are on their way."

While the group enjoyed exploring the area, they were there on business. The conference was held form July 26-29. "The exposition was a combination of 10 large international conferences put on by Harvard, Yale, the University of Chicago, and other major schools," said Nicholas McKay. "The conference had 1,800-plus students made up of predominately Asian students. We were amazed at the size and splendor of the conference."

And the team did not come home from the competition empty-handed. Collin Mathias won the best delegate award - his fourth - and Nicholas took home an outstanding delegate award as well as second place in his assigned committee, said Vredevelt.

"Through our 10-day trip, the team was able to fully experience the city of Beijing and the many marvels that littered the Capital City. We walked around the Forbidden City, had a rickshaw ride through the old city of Beijing and climbed to a very high peak on the Great Wall of China, and had many other adventures," said Nicholas. "All in all, we were just happy to represent our team and our school on an international level."